By the time October rolled by, Seren was proud to have three recruits in tip-top shape. She was confident in them enough to advocate for a few missions here and there. It took her nearly 3 months to get them to where they were and she was sure that with more time, she would be able to create a full fledged team.

The only downside was the time it took out of her daily life. She wasn't able to call home a lot. She often went weeks and without contact and if she wasn't careful, she would go months. She still needed and wanted to know what was going on back home.

Mid-October is when she finally managed to get ahold of someone for a decent conversation. Natasha was in the lead for most answered calls. As it turned out, Steve and Chloe were incredibly busy lately. Chloe was off in one of the southern states for God knew what and Steve was in the opposite train.

"There's some news," Natasha almost sing-sang over the video call.

"What is it?" Seren was on her way into the apartment.

"We're being relocated to D.C."

Seren picked up on the key word. "We're? As in…"

"Everyone," Natasha smirked. "Fury won't say it but I know there's something going on. I'm already packed but I think Steve is taking it a little harder."

"Well yeah, he's being asked to move out of his home city. I'd have a thing or two to think about."

Natasha smirked suddenly. "Didn't you?"

Seren groaned. "Missing the point! So, is he okay?"

"You could ask him yourself, you know."

"I think I'm the least qualified person to talk about moving," Seren's sharp eyes made an entire reminder of where she was at the current moment. "But I'm sure it'll inevitably come up in our next call."

"What about you, when are you coming home?"

Seren sighed. Each time someone asked the question she answered them with the same thing: 'I don't know'. It was frustrating but what could she do? Just last week, Rebeca had confided in her that another country was getting more and more curious about their proposal. What Seren had accomplished so far was incredible and if it could reproduce what the Avengers had done in New York, even something remotely close, it was something that any country would grab. Rebeca promised that if that was the case, Seren would become BIG big. She would do "wonders" but Seren's first thoughts went to the family she would leave behind if that happened.

It would be days before she could share that information with Steve too. When Natasha first heard of it, she admitted she wasn't that surprised but not too happy either. She missed Seren—she was the only Agent that Natasha could fully trust in and apart from everything, they were together from the start. She wasn't afraid to tell Seren that she was due back home, though she understood why Seren would say no.

Steve wasn't that brave. He was happy to hear that things were going well on her end and he would keep his aching thoughts to himself. "Send me a postcard when you go to Paris," he joked with her instead.

Seren chuckled. "Yeah, but I don't think I'd have a lot of time for that kind of stuff. I barely sleep right now."

"Well take care of yourself, Seren. I know it's rich coming from me but slow down sometimes."

Seren appreciated his advice because God knows that she did need to slow down every once in a while. Risha told her the same thing, especially when Seren told her to take a break. "I heard about the move..." she started with all the caution in the world. She'd been trying to work her way to that subject without making it sound like it's all she wanted to talk about, especially if Steve wasn't going to comment about it anyways.

"Uuh, yeah," his nod wasn't much to go on by.

"Are you...are you alright with it?"

"Honestly? I don't really know." Steve had gone about it several times in his head. If he was being completely honest with himself, there was nothing tying him to New York anymore. His home was gone, his family and his friends. Even now Seren was gone from it too. What was he staying there for?

"I've been working on reconstructing the tower and I've had a few ideas...about a team. Make a new team under new rules with absolutely no secrets."

Tony's proposal sometimes didn't seem all that bad anymore. He hadn't mentioned it to Steve anymore but he knew that Tony was still waiting for an answer.

"Steve?" he heard Seren's call. He had left her with silence. "Are you okay?" She was concerned that he wasn't telling her all the truth, and she was right.

"Umm, I mean...there's just some things," Steve rubbed a hand over his face. "Stark, he…"

"Oh, what did he do now?" Seren dreaded the gimmicks that man would come up with.

Steve smiled at her obvious dread. "No, no, this time he...he's doing something good, I think. He...has this idea, about starting a new team."

"A new team?" Seren's eyebrows knitted together. "Who does he want to recruit?"

"Us."

"Us!?"

Steve nodded. "You, me, Natasha, Clint, Chloe...all of us."

"Wh-why? I thought he didn't even want to be a part of the Initiative!"

"Things change," Steve shrugged. He hadn't really asked Tony all of his reasons for such an idea but he did get one jist, the same jist that even Seren knew about. "Plus, he doesn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Ah," Seren remembered that all too well. "What do you think of it, then?"

"Like I said, I don't really know. To be honest, I'm still just trying to figure out my role at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What do you mean? You're...you, what else is there?"

"I'm way behind on everything Seren and you know that." He appreciated her trying to be kind but the truth was the truth. He had a long way before he truly consider himself one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents. "And I still don't know what to make of Fury. He's relatively okay but there's still some things about him that don't rub me well."

"I'm not going to lie, that feeling's never going to change. I've known Fury since I was a kid. It's just who he is."

"But doesn't it bother you that he doesn't always tell you the truth? Look what happened with the Hydra weapons?"

"I don't know, Steve," Seren shrugged but there was a clear confliction marking her face. Steve wouldn't ask her if that also bothered her—the fact that she didn't even know what to make of her awareness of the lies—but he sincerely hoped that his questions would make her think about it more. "I guess...I guess I just trained myself to go with it. I've been there since I was 10. I don't really know what to do without S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Looks to me like you're doing fine," Steve pointed out her entire mission in England. It was an extension of S.H.I.E.L.D. but she essentially wasn't working for them anymore. She was doing her own missions and if things went well for her, she'd be off in other countries too far from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reach.

Seren sheepishly smiled in return. "Yeah, but...I've always had S.H.I.E.L.D. in my life and to suddenly leave it behind and start a whole new team? I wouldn't know what to do."

"I think you would be fine," Steve had no doubt about it. Seren was doing what she did from an early age. She didn't need S.H.I.E.L.D., it IT needed HER her. She just hadn't realized it.

"Are you considering Stark's proposal then?" Seren curiously asked him. "Because if you did, you know that I would support you. Although, I don't know how you and Stark would work together…"

Steve laughed. "Oh, I know."

"I might have to pull you out of some epic fights with each other!"

"Yeah, yeah, I may have to hold off on that then...at least until you're back." He hadn't planned on saying those words but he couldn't say that he regretted them either, not when Seren smiled so sweetly at him.

"Wouldn't that be nice?" she mused, desperately hoping that her blush wasn't noticeable on the screen. "My absolute dream is to be Captain America's and Iron' Man's babysitter."

"I'm sure the pay would be good!"

"Steve!"

"I was just saying," he raised his hands in surrender.

"Mhm, sure," Seren rolled her eyes at him. She suddenly heard a knock on her door and, knowing that it was her neighbor Holly coming over for that lunch they planned, she had to end the call. "If you allow me my two-cents, I think you'll be just as good in D.C. as you were in New York. It's a beautiful place and kind of patriotic...just a note…"

It was Steve's turn to roll his eyes. "Right. But thanks."

"And if I could, I'd be there to help out."

"I know you would but right now people need you over there. Help them." Steve knew that would make her incredibly happy so...he should be happy too. That's what he kept trying to convince himself to believe in.

Seren nodded but said nothing else. She couldn't trust herself not to say anything imprudent. It was getting more difficult to keep her mouth shut about certain things and she blamed Chloe for all of them. It was much easier living in bliss but after Chloe's visit in June, every single thought that Seren had about Steve was coming out like a gusher. She'd become self aware and it was the worst thing she could've done.

She had to distract herself. So she did...with work. A lot of it.

~ 0 ~

In the last week of October, Steve found himself examining his new apartment in D.C. It was bigger than the one in New York, he would definitely have more space for more things. What things? He hadn't exactly bought many things to begin with. The things he had were all bought over by Seren. He'd have to start over again and this time it would be by himself.

Almost.

Chloe had made herself present two days after he settled in, but with a mission. "I'm here for 2 days then I'm off to England," she explained on their way into the new S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ.

"What short mission involves you being here for 2 days?"

"Please, sound more excited about me being around. It truly warms my heart."

Steve met her sarcasm with a smile and a roll of his eyes. "Sorry, you know what I meant—"

Chloe stopped in the hallway and raised a hand in the air. "I know," she smiled. "And to answer your question, I don't really know what I'm here for. My plans were to go to England for the whole week and surprise Seren. Fury called me back."

"But you don't know what you're here for?" Steve watched her shake her head ever so casually. "And that doesn't bother you? That, you don't know…?"

"That I don't know everything about this place?" If there was one stark difference between Chloe and Seren, it was that Chloe went directly for the point, no filters needed. She knew exactly what Steve meant to ask and she answered it with the truth. "I learned to get used to it. You never know why they do it. Sometimes it's necessary."

"But why would that be necessary? You're a team."

Before Chloe turned away, Steve caught an almost sad smile marking her face. "We compartmentalize." She continued walking down the hallway, prompting Steve to do the same. "Sometimes it's for the greater good and sometimes things just aren't meant to be known by everyone else. It's better this way. Every group knows what they need to know in order to complete their given missions. You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure that I will," Steve admitted. Already he found it hard to work with SHIELD, what hope did he have to settle into an organization that wasn't keen on honesty?

Chloe could feel all of his troubles radiating into the air. "I hope you don't keep this attitude when you visit Seren this week. It'd be a real downer, you know."

"How do you know that I'm—?"

"Please, Stark and I talk. That was real nice of him what he did. When do you leave?"

"Since when do you and Stark talk?"

"Don't change the subject," Chloe wagged a finger at him. "When do you leave? Because you're still going, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Great! Because I have plans to help—"

"No, no," this time it was Steve wagging a finger in Chloe's face. "I don't need any help—"

Chloe scoffed. "I think you do! Everyone knows it!"

"Knows what?"

"Don't make me say it in a place where every conversation is recorded."

"Say what — wait, everything is recorded?" Steve was now looking up at the ceiling with a new sense of dread. Even that was different nowadays.

Chloe chuckled at him. "Sometimes, you're too innocent. It's a good thing you have me to help you out."

"Chloe, I've done this before and Bucky was never able to really 'help me out'." And Steve knows that he had tried but it was simply not meant to be.

Chloe's face remained straight. "Then he sucked and clearly he had no idea what he was doing." She turned around, her long tresses of hair flipping with enough force to hit Steve in the face.

"Um, I think he did, actually," Steve followed behind her until he caught up. "He was the one who always tried getting us double dates."

"Mm, and how'd that end up?"

"For me, not so great. For him? Double great."

Chloe snorted into a laugh. "Oh honey, I can do better for you. In fact, I take it as a challenge."

"Please don't." Steve went for Chloe's arm just as she was about to make a turn. "Chloe, I mean it. I'm grateful for everything you've done since I met you but this is something that I don't want planned. All I know is that it's been a very long time since I last saw Seren and I just want to see her."

"So you do know what you want," Chloe said cleverly and smirked at Steve's deadpanning face. She raised her hands in the air. "No worries, I do know how to control myself. I promise." She winked and continued on her way.

For some reason, Steve wasn't entirely convinced with her.

~ 0 ~

On November 1st, Seren found herself with a short day at work. She had come in with all the intentions of working as if it were any other day. She had her new team: Risha, Joshua and Blake to train after all. Today she was going to focus on landing strategies...or so she thought.

"You can't work on your birthday," Risha was adamant that Seren return home the moment she walked into their training room.

"Isn't that a rule somewhere?" Joshua looked around the room as if said rule was hanging on a plaque on the wall.

Seren shook her head at the trio. "It's fine, really."

"You should've gone home," Blake said. "I'm sure Miss Hale could've arranged that for you."

"That she would've," Rebeca Hale said herself as she strode into the room. "But Seren said it wasn't necessary."

"What!?" Risha exclaimed. "What do you mean you didn't want to go home for your birthday?"

Seren only smiled at the question, a strained one too. She had thought about the offer when Rebeca came up with it but she eventually had to refuse it. She would love to come home and...stay there. It would hurt too much to be around for a couple days and then have to do the goodbyes all over again. She wouldn't torture herself that way.

"Nonetheless, you are getting a present," Rebeca came directly to Seren and held out a small white box.

"Rebeca," Seren shook her head but it was done in vain. Rebeca forced her to take the box. With a sigh, Seren did as such and opened it up. Inside were four airplane tickets. "Rebeca, I said I wasn't going home—"

"Check the destination," Rebeca's eyes briefly flickered to the trio of trainees behind Seren without being noticed.

Seren searched for the destination and found 'Paris' listed. "Hold on…" Her eyes met Rebeca's soon enough. "I'm going to Paris?"

"Mhm," Rebeca nodded. A smile was spreading across her face. "Not just you, though, your team."

"What?" went the trainees in question.

"Rebeca, I don't understand," Seren said. She put the lid back on the box.

"It's France—I told you they were getting more interested in what we're doing here," Rebeca was now grinning like the cheshire cat. "They want to meet with you, Seren, to talk about the team. I booked the tickets and I may have made the return date a couple days after your meetings for some, uh, vacation time?"

"I'm okay with that!" Risha's hand was soaring in the air. Seren looked back to see her overly excited face and had to smile. As soon as Risha met Seren's gaze, she dropped her hand to her side. "I-I mean...if that's okay with you of course."

Seren playfully rolled her eyes and shifted her gaze back to Rebeca. "Thanks Rebeca. Of course I'll be on that plane. We'll all be."

"Excellent, because they're truly interested in the team now. If all goes well, France will be your next stop and then who knows!" Rebeca patted Seren's shoulder and turned to leave the room. She only stopped by the doorway to give Seren a head's up. "Oh, there's someone waiting for you on your way out."

Seren wouldn't make an argument to stay. Rebeca had already made her point and, plus, she was a little curious who was waiting for her.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow," she gave a languid wave at her trainees.

"Or not, if you get drunk correctly," Joshua smirked.

Seren rolled her eyes. "Just for that, you all get to train an extra hour." She pointed a warning finger at the trio. "I mean it. One extra hour."

"Way to go, Josh," she heard Blake mutter on her way out.

Seren made a note to send them a text later on to let them get off free. She went on her way to the front entrance only to find a tall, rosy-cheeked blonde woman outside. "You have got to be kidding me," Seren exhaled deeply.

Chloe grinned. "C'mon, at least pretend you're excited to see me. Happy birthday!"

Seren smiled. "Yeah, alright."

~ 0 ~

Since Chloe had arrived early in the morning, she had ample time to spend with Seren and unknowingly to the Celessian, prep too.

"How long are you here for?" Seren asked the usual question once the two were back in her apartment.

"Just for today," the blonde shrugged. She went directly into the hallway, ignoring Seren's puzzling look as she followed behind.

"You seriously came to England for one day?"

"Yup," Chloe pushed Seren's bedroom door open and walked right in. She made a beeline for the closet. "I'm off for Denmark tomorrow."

Seren long ago learned not to waste her breath on Chloe's erratic solo mission schedule but it never meant that it stopped bothering her. "So you're here with me for the day?"

Chloe flashed her a smile. "You know it. Since you refused to come home for the day. Don't know what that's about—"

"Please don't. And what are you doing in my closet? What are you, 12?"

"I never had sisters," reminded Chloe as she passed some hands through the wardrobe. "Just brothers. And I'm looking for something good for today."

"So you're raiding my closet...on my birthday…" Seren folded her arms over her chest. "I never had sisters either but I'm pretty sure that's not what sisters should be doing."

Chloe rolled her eyes and plucked out a black, spaghetti strapped dress. "Oh, this is nice. And it's not for me, just so you know. I thought that would've been obvious."

"So you have plans for us today or what?" Seren noticed the fancy clothes Chloe was picking out from her closet.

"Yes and why do you have so many pant-suits?" Chloe wrinkled her nose as she pulled out two pairs of said suits.

"Because I work for an organization and I prefer a good suit sometimes?"

"Well it's wrong for today! You need something…" Chloe kept searching for whatever it was that she was looking for, all in the meanwhile insulting the next suits that she happened to see. "Wait! What's this?" She plucked out a white lace dress with a very defined sweetheart neckline. "When did you buy this?" she shot Seren a look.

Seren could only shrug. "I don't know, one of the rare moments I splurged. It wasn't cheap, you know."

Chloe smirked. "It's like you already knew."

"Knew what?" It really concerned Seren the way Chloe's smirk widened. She was up to something alright. "Chloe, you should know that it would be absolutely wrong to do something horrible to me on my birthday."

Whether or not Seren had actually wanted, the dress was on her and it wouldn't be coming off for anything. Her hair, though incredibly short, had been curled to one side while the shortest of strands had been twisted on the other side of her head.

"I feel like I'm overly dressed," Seren huffed on their way to some restaurant Chloe had talked about earlier.

"You know that if Tony picked it out, it has to be fancy," Chloe shrugged beside her on the street. "Just be glad I said no to the limousine."

Seren actually was thankful for that. She didn't know Tony enough but she was aware enough to know that he did things over-the-top. "Can you at least tell me why we even bothered to dress up? I'd be completely fine if—"

Chloe sharply glanced at her friend. "You're serious?" Seren nodded. "It's your damn birthday and you don't want to dress up just a tiny bit? God, work has made you even more into a bore!"

"Thanks," Seren said flatly. She dug her hands into her cream-colored coat's pockets. "I'm thousands of miles away from home and I just realize that it'll probably be a very long time until I'll be done with all this."

Chloe sensed a new degree of certainty in Seren's tone this time around. She didn't want to push further, not today of all days, but she hoped that later on Seren would tell her what changed. She checked the time on her phone and was delighted to see she still had time.

"I hope I at least get some decent red velvet cake," Seren warned when the two women were seated in the restaurant.

"How about a cinnamon roll?" Chloe looked Seren and saw her friend's face practically fall.

'"I, um, I haven't really been in the mood for those lately." 'Lately' would be an understatement considering she had not had a cinnamon roll since June when Chloe last visited.

"Seren without a cinnamon roll?" Chloe dramatically gasped. "The travesty!"

Seren tried to smile and play it off as a joke but she failed miserably. Chloe saw right through the smile and sighed to herself. She truly wanted Seren to enjoy herself, her damn birthday! Seren's major problem is that she worked too much and paid very little attention to herself. True, that kind of flaw is what benefited Chloe when they first met. Chloe would never deny that. Seren put all of her efforts into helping Chloe handle the newly embedded Hive Mind in her head, trained her as much as she could, and gave her friendship.

And now Chloe felt like it was time to repay all that.

Their combined lunch and dinner went by finely, if not a bit quiet. Chloe insisted that Seren should get a birthday cake, even if it was a small red velvet cake.

"Honestly, Chloe, it's almost night and you have a flight to catch later. I'm okay," Seren shrugged.

Chloe insisted that was not going to be the case for tonight. "You need to stop settling already."

Seren rolled her eyes and continued to walk alongside Chloe. "I'm not settling. You're going to be late for your own flight! If this is a mission then I cannot allow you to jeopardize it over something as silly as my birthday."

Chloe met her look but it was only to scold her. "You seriously need to stop putting yourself down. Everything about you is important and that includes your birthday." She pressed her index finger against Seren's forehead for effect.

Seren pushed her finger away. "Chloe, I refuse to believe that you're being careless right now—"

"Good, because I'm not. I'm a woman with a plan."

"Sometimes I just want to strangle you."

Chloe smirked. Her eyes flashed blue. "Yeah, even the aliens in my head don't believe that. At least I think since they don't really speak English to me. I haven't untapped the language barrier between us—"

"Chloe!"

"Fine!" The blonde huffed and flapped a hand towards the end of the street. "There's my damn plan!"

Seren looked over and saw nothing special in particular. It was just businesses that included a dessert bakery. "What?"

"You're going to get your red velvet cake. Go get it!"

"But Chloe—"

"I already ordered it so go fucking get it!"

"Chloe!"

"I said go, dammit!" Chloe could be very impatient but she was usually good at restraining herself. Clearly right now wasn't one of those moments. "I'll really be late so I'll have to leave you here."

"What—! Ah!" Seren felt her body pulled back and suddenly she had Chloe's arms around her in a hug. "Chloe!" Seren laughed. "You're so crazy!"

"Absolutely the craziest!" agreed Chloe with a nod. "Happy birthday, Seren. I seriously don't know what my life would've been if you'd never found me," Chloe murmured in her tight hug. Seren smiled lightly and hugged her back. "I really mean it. I know that I'd probably be dead without you."

"Oh Chloe, someone would've helped you," Seren patted her friend's back.

"No, because not everyone is as kind as you are, Seren. I know that I would've died and that's why my favorite Avenger is Stardust." Seren laughed with her. "And it's also why I would do anything to make you happy."

Seren chuckled, but secretly felt her heart swell. "Oh, you know you really are like my sister, right? The one I never had?"

Chloe stepped back from Seren. "Just like you're my sister. My selfless, big sister. And now as the annoying little sister, I must fulfill my role by insisting you pick up that cake I ordered for you."

"You ordered me a cake?" Seren blinked.

Chloe laughed. "Of course! Have a slice on me, okay! I gotta go!"

"Well, let me take you to the—"

But Chloe didn't let Seren finish. She manually turned Seren around and pushed her forwards, insisting that Seren pick up the cake. With no other option, Seren started making her way towards the bakery. The idea of having some red velvet cake was, admittedly, sounding very good to her the closer she got to the building.

The building looked perfectly normal to Seren. There were a few customers inside but nothing really made it stand out. She hoped the cake truly was ready. She walked inside and immediately smelled the sweet air of pastries. Her first thought went to a cinnamon roll, and that just brought her already little smile down.

She walked up to the counter and asked for the cake, deciding Chloe must have put it under her name. Sure enough, 'Seren Soul' was the name on the receipt. She was handed a pink cake box and then a plastic box of cinnamon rolls.

"Oh, no, no," Seren started sliding the box back on the counter, "Those aren't mine. I didn't — there were no cinnamon rolls ordered." Just looking at them hurt her.

The employee checked the receipt and confirmed the rolls were part of the order. "They're already paid for," she told Seren when the latter insisted they weren't hers.

Seren begrudgingly took the box and put it over the cake box. She might just be giving them to her neighbor or something. She couldn't bear to eat them on her own. "Thanks," she mumbled and picked up the two boxes from the counter.

She made it to the door and realized it would be a nice challenge getting out without dropping anything. If I can fight aliens, I can open a damn door on my own. She shuffled the boxes into one arm and reached for the door handle. In doing so, the cinnamon roll box slid off the box.

"Crap—!" Seren exclaimed, turning and bending quickly to try and catch it. Fortunately, someone else caught the box before it fell to the floor.

"Let me get that for you, ma'am..." she heard but instead of being thankful, she froze. She looked ahead and saw a pair of bright blue eyes that sent about a dozen (or possibly a hundred) butterflies in her stomach.

Steve was smiling like he always did, like nothing had changed, certainly not where they lived. They were out and about as they tended to do outside of missions. He did swear, however, that Seren looked even more beautiful than he remembered. He almost felt guilty for forgetting that. "Hi, Seren..."

Seren slowly got over her shock and began to smile. "H-hi." She felt breathless, and maybe she was. It was the first time she saw Steve after becoming aware. I hate Chloe, she grumbled to herself. They straightened up at the same time and looked at each other. Gosh, was he always that handsome? He had on a button-down blue plaid shirt, black pants and his favorite brown leather jacket. His hair was neatly combed to the side — the Golden boy look as Natasha had joked about plenty of times before. Now that Seren looked, she decided the 'golden boy' look was far more appealing.

"Happy birthday," Steve said, revealing to be holding a small bouquet of curious purple flowers in his other hand.

"I—" Seren's eyes flickered from him to the flowers, to the cinnamon rolls. Her head was spinning. "But you're — you're here — with the—" She shook her head, and heard Steve's light chuckle. "Shut up, don't laugh at me..." She looked up at him from under her lashes, feeling her cheeks flush warm.

"I'm not — laughing at you is the last thing I want to do right now," Steve said, "I really wanted to see you."

Seren finally raised her head and met his gaze. "Me too..." she admitted.

Not knowing what to do then, Steve motioned the flowers to her. He felt so awkward because there were about a hundred things he wanted to tell Seren and he couldn't say a single one. Luckily, Seren took the flowers from him in her free hand.

"They're so pretty," she mused as she took a sniff of them. "I don't think I've ever seen these kinds..."

"They're called Aster flowers," Steve said, "They're um, well, they're flowers that usually mean 'stars'."

"Oh!" Seren's brows raised in delight. "How sweet! Thank you!" She felt a new rush of appreciation for her flowers and definitely for Steve himself. She would hug him if her arms weren't full. "How did — I mean — this was Chloe's doing, wasn't it!?"

Steve couldn't help it and laughed. It was a fair presumption but he still told her that Chloe was free from all responsibility. "Stark gave me the ticket. Birthday presents, you know."

"Ah..." Seren honestly had not been expecting that. She might have to give Tony a call and thank him for the gesture.

"Here, let me help you!" Steve said and took the cake box out of Seren's arm. "I'm, uh, basically here for a few days."

Seren could not help but beam. "Really?" Steve nodded. "Oh, that's great!" She would definitely call up Tony later and thank him. And Chloe.

Steve wouldn't ever refuse a hug from her. He wrapped his free arm around her and took in her sweet cinnamon scent. He picked up a long time ago that whatever perfume she used had to have some type of cinnamon scent in the mix. He didn't realize how much he missed even that from her.

Seren pulled away eventually and still held the biggest smile on her face. "You actually came here…" She laughed with the flowers he was still holding. Orange poppies. Her favorites. "For me?"

Steve nodded. "I know it's probably outdated but…"

"Not for me, it's so sweet," Seren happily took the bouquet into her hands. It was REALLY really sweet and definitely him. "Thank you."

"Chloe mentioned you liked red velvet cake? Whatever red velvet is…?" Steve made a gesture towards the bakery. "There might be an order waiting for you."

Seren's eyes flickered between him and the bakery. "Have you and Chloe been plotting for this?" The smile on his face was answer enough for Seren. "Oh my God!" She laughed. "Seriously? You and Chloe?"

"She's actually really good at these things." Steve would give Chloe her credit where it was due. "I already had the ticket—"

Seren raised an eyebrow at those words. "Since when?"

"For a while." Steve preferred to leave Tony's name out of it for the moment. "I was coming to see you and...Chloe found out. She just helped me out a bit. This world…it's still confusing." He hated repeating the fact he still wasn't adept to the new world. It only helped solidify his hesitancy to start something with Seren. She really didn't need that in her life.

But in reality, Seren didn't see in that way at all. She smiled softly at him. "I really appreciate you doing this. Was the bakery your idea?"

"I know you like sweets but I wasn't sure what your favorite was and honestly I'm not sure what red velvet is."

Seren nodded, chuckling. "Well, I could show you." She made a nod at the bakery still waiting to be entered.

Steve quickly reached for the door again and this time actually pulled it open for them. "After you."

Seren smiled. Very him indeed. "Thank you."

~ 0 ~

Seren's apartment was in a nice neighborhood—it should be given that it was acquired for her by her job—and the inside was just as nice. It was far bigger than her old apartment in New York and more elegant.

"Please tell me you'll be staying for a few days," Seren felt awfully brave when she said those words. She set her flowers down on the coffee table and shook off her coat, leaving it on the couch. "There's so many things I could show you here!"

Steve was speechless for a moment as he got a good look at the dress she was wearing first. She was beautiful, to put it simply. The defined sweetheart neckline was particularly eye-catching but he certainly wasn't going to tell her that. The makeup on her face made her eye pop, and who could get over her smile? He cleared his throat and, when he was sure that nothing uncomfortable would slip out from him, he told her his stay was indeed for a few days.

Ecstatic, Seren hurried into the kitchen for some plates so they could have cake and cinnamon rolls.

"Have you ever tried red velvet before?" She returned with the utensils and plates and set them on the coffee table.

"Uh, no, I don't think I have," Steve said with a shake of his head. He watched her open the box to reveal a pretty cake inside. He could see the glimpse of red bread with a bright white cream topping. 'Happy birthday Seren' was written in beautiful cursive.

Seren cut two slices of cake for them and slid Steve his plate. She was excited for him to try it out. "You'll love it," she promised as they sat down together on the couch.

"It looks good," Steve shrugged. It seemed like a regular cake but since Seren was so excited, he didn't have the heart to disappoint her even if he ended up not liking it. He grabbed his spoon and took a piece of the cake into his mouth, prepared to lie through his teeth if he needed to. However, he soon discovered that disappointing Seren wouldn't be an issue because, as it turned out, the cake was actually delicious. "Okay, you're right. It's good!"

Seren laughed. "Yes! I knew you'd like it!"

Steve could not, for the life of him, stop the automatic smile spreading across his face as they ate their slices together. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Seren." He missed how easy it was trying new things when Seren was the one leading him into it. He trusted her with his entire life, never doubting her intentions. He had yet to find someone he could do the same with.

Seren blushed at Steve's words and decided that her red velvet cake was a much safer thing to look at. She didn't want to embarrass herself by saying something stupid. There was one thing, though, that she did want to say. "I missed you too." She wished she could've said it more confidently but for now it would have to do. "I'm really glad you're here. No matter how many friends I make, it's not really the same as...you know, New York."

"It's a brand new country for you, brand new everything," Steve said, "It's normal to feel out of place."

"I just hope the feeling goes away at some point..." Seren said with a small sigh.

"Now wait a minute, it's your birthday. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be sad on your birthday," Steve said and motioned her to keep eating from her slice.

Thankfully, she chuckled and continued eating. She finished her slice in no time. Afterwards, she went into the kitchen in search of a vase for the flowers Steve had given her.

"I really love these," she reiterated when she arranged them in the vase now filled with fresh water. "I never even knew there were flowers that looked like stars."

"Me neither," Steve admitted, making her laugh. It was a stroke of luck finding that store. Although now that he thought about, it was Chloe who had suggested he go into the store to ask for flowers. He suspected the Hive Mind had something to do with all that.

Seren smelled her new flowers again and hummed. "I've never had the hand for flowers but I'll try to keep these alive for as long as I can," she smiled at him softly. "Because they're from you."

Steve wasn't a stranger to knots in his stomach. God knows he spent the better part of his life having that with every health complication he would have. But right now, that knot felt so good. Even the loss of air wasn't a problem. He went back to eating the remainder of his cake slice before he did something stupid.

"So do you have a place to stay?"

"Yeah, yeah, Stark actually helped with that too," Steve nodded.

Seren's expression seemed like she was suspicious of something. "He's so involved with you lately. Are you sure you didn't take his offer up about that new team and just forgot to mention it?"

"I would never forget to mention something like that," Steve said.

"Well, you know you're always free to move on from SHIELD. You should work where you're comfortable, Steve. Nobody would fault you for that."

"Thanks, Seren." Steve knew that she meant her words and it warmed his heart to see her care so much for his comfort. Truth be told, he'd be most comfortable wherever she was too.

"I'm just letting you know because you're too polite to tell me 'no'," Seren said, wagging a finger at him while he laughed.

"What?"

"It's true! You're too polite for your own good!"

"Mm, not always true! Not when I get really, really mad. And, really, you're one to talk!"

"Me?" Seren blinked.

"Yes, you! I don't think I've ever seen you get really mad," Steve said as he thought about it some more. Seren had only expressed a heightened anger when they were fighting the Chitauri. Other than that, he couldn't remember another moment. "Well, no, there was that moment when Natasha jumped on your bed with shoes."

"I hate shoes on the bed," Seren frowned on the spot. "They're icky! They've got germs from everywhere! You don't bring those to your bed! Or people's beds!"

Steve started to laugh. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Why? Planning on jumping on my bed anytime soon?" Seren crossed her arms in front of her. "Don't you dare."

Steve rolled his eyes at her.

"So," Seren put her hands on her lap, "I won't be getting Natasha or Tony jumping out of somewhere to scare me, right? Because Natasha's done that before too."

"As exciting as that sounds, no," Steve assured her. "It's just me. I figured you didn't really want such a big thing for tonight."

Seren was impressed with how accurate he was. She didn't realize how well he had come to know her. If she thought about things, she knew a lot about him too. "You might be right about that," she offered him a kind smile. "Growing up I had to make myself scarce and that didn't really leave a lot of chances to do certain stuff. Guess I just got accustomed to it that now I don't really do much."

"Funny, I was completely human and that's why I missed out on a lot growing up."

"Like what?"

"Uh, you know, usual kid stuff. Boy stuff."

"Aahh." The smirk that came to Seren's face made Steve regret those words in a snap. "I see."

"No, no, not like tha—"

Seren started laughing. "I think so—"

"No! I just meant—"

Seren moved around, still laughing, "No, no, I think you meant exactly what you said."

"Seren!" Seren had a playful smile over her lips was far too cheeky for Steve's liking. "I think the sugar's getting to your head, you know."

"Maybe," she shrugged. "But it's also so pretty funny making fun at you. Not that I'm making fun of you for what you endured," she said pretty fast once she realized how her previous words could come across.

Steve knew that too and for that, he smiled. "I think I know you well enough to know that."

"Good. Because I really am sorry for that. What kind of things did you miss out on, for real this time?"

"Seren, I didn't cross an entire ocean to talk about my past with you." Steve didn't think his words through because the next thing that Seren said really threw him into a much more flustered state.

"So why did you cross an entire ocean then?" Seren had scooted closer to him on the couch. Her big green eyes were anxiously waiting for him to answer her question.

Oh God why did he have to go and say that? He meant it, yeah, but now he had to explain to her why he said it.

He looked Seren over in that God beautiful dress she was in. He swallowed hard as his eyes wandered down her fitted figure. She was absolutely gorgeous and she wasn't taken. How? "To see you," the words fell from his mouth in the easiest of ways, like it was meant to be said.

Seren approved of the answer. Her heart did a bit of fluttering. "You're here now. What do you want to do?"

"Uuh…" There was one thing that Steve thought about doing after a suggestion she made a couple months back. "I heard your songs," he said, puzzling her for a second until he added, "The ones that you recommended after you gave me the record player."

"Oh," she blinked and chuckled. "Right, right, you listened to them?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, they were nice. It had a home feeling to them."

"I thought they would. Do you use the record player, then?"

"All the time," Steve said like a promise. Each time he used it, he thought of her and since she wasn't around, he thought about her a lot. "Your songs are the most played."

Seren chuckled. "Get out of here…"

"I'm serious!"

"No way—there are so many songs out there!"

"I always listen to them, Seren, I swear. Here!" He started digging into his back pocket and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Seren was still laughing as he searched for whatever he needed on his phone.

If he was being honest, Steve had no idea what he was doing. His fingers were doing the search quicker than what his brain could process. He ultimately silenced Seren when she heard Put Your Head on my Shoulder playing.

"I don't know if I should be impressed or not that you learned how to search for that pretty quickly…" Seren said and suddenly Steve was the one laughing.

He lowered his phone to the coffee table. "You sounded like Chloe…"

Seren narrowed her eyes at him. "Not on my birthday, you don't, Rogers." Steve put his hands up in front of him. Eventually, Seren let her sarcasm pass for the sake of the song in the air. "I do like this song…" she said sheepishly.

"Would you like to dance?" Steve asked before he even thought about it. Maybe it was something he'd been thinking about for a long time now and having her in front of him after so long was just too much to take. He stood up and held a hand out to her.

Seren knew very well that she would love nothing more than to dance with him. She nodded before she lost all courage. She took his hand and stood up, stepping back from the couch with him.

"I'm going to admit that I do not know how to dance very well." But Steve was sure that she had presumed that already. Still, she smiled like she was just learning it for the first time.

"I didn't learn how to dance until I was out of high school," she admitted. There weren't many moments to dance with someone growing up, not when she was so busy keeping herself hidden.

"Still younger than me," Steve's remark made her laugh. It brought them into a gentle sway of a dance. "And, you know, you actually had a chance."

Seren cocked her head. "If they were alive, those people would be kicking themselves for how they treated you. And if not, I would've kicked them." It was Steve's turn to laugh. "I'm not joking," Seren said. Her hands gripped his shoulders a little tighter. "It infuriates me that people were so mean to you."

"It was fine, Seren." In truth, Steve had grown used to it, not by choice but it was still a fact. "Some people are always going to be mean. I'm sure, unfortunately, that even though you were quiet as a mouse you still had someone picking on you." The answer was evident by the deep scowl that marked Seren's face.

"Valerie Jordan," she muttered. "She absolutely hated me and I never understood why. I was quiet, I literally barely spoke to anyone at school, but she just...she hated me. God, she never ran out of insults."

"Well, you don't have to think about that anymore, especially today." The last thing Steve wanted was for her to start remembering the darker moments of her past. He swayed her a bit more until she laughed again. That's what he wanted to see from her, it's what she deserved.

"I guess it's just better to focus on what's in front of you instead of what should be behind you," she said, eyes keenly locked with his.

"Exactly. And do you know what I see for you?"

"Hm, what?" Seren leaned her body against his in her attempt to be closer for when he spoke again.

"I see a good future for you, a successful one."

"So we're psychic now?"

Steve chuckled. "No, I just see clearly. Most of the time. And I knew, a while ago, that you were going to do big things." He had, at some point along his words, lowered his head beside hers so that his left cheek was resting over her head.

Seren felt a surge of heat rush over her face. He was far too close to her, or rather she'd done it without realizing it. Whoever was responsible hadn't thought it through but at the same time, it wasn't unwelcoming. It was fitting, actually, almost like they belonged in that position.

"I don't know how right you are…" Seren's voice was a low whisper. Her bravery was gone and suddenly she felt more exposed than she actually was. "I don't think the world was ready for someone like me, no matter how modern we are."

"They said no one was ready for me and it was the 40s. I still got off well…"

"You ended up frozen for decades, Steve. Call me a coward but I don't want that to happen to me." She may have squeezed his shoulders again. "That's my fear, you know. Being buried alive."

"I'd never let that happen to you." Steve wrapped his arms around her a little bit tighter. She felt it and along with it came some relief, as if knowing that she was absolutely safe with him around.

"You know when I was little, my biggest fear is what would happen to me if somebody found out what I was. Even when I was older, I always wondered what S.H.I.E.L.D. would do if it couldn't protect me." Seren was guilty to say that even now, the same thought still ran through her head every now and then. She was strong, and she had powers, but would she really be able to protect herself all the time?

"You're a star, Seren." Steve could feel Seren's smile against his shoulder. He had to pull away to see it up-close. "What does your grandmother call you?"

Seren flushed. "...star soul. It's a literal translation of my name. 'Seren' means star."

"A very accurate translation if you ask me. You're a star and if anyone says otherwise, they're wrong." Steve was aware that he was much too close to Seren to not be tempted. And boy was he tempted.

Seren watched him so fondly that she missed all the conflict Steve had going on. She loved hearing the compliments he'd been paying her in these past minutes. She wasn't much for attention but when it was coming from Steve, well...she loved it.

"You're a star," Steve said quietly. Suddenly the music seemed louder around them.

Seren had heard that specific line so many times she lost count but when Steve said, it had a whole new meaning to it. "Oh lovey, I almost believe you." The words left her lips before her brain could catch up.

Steve immediately remembered the few times she had used that pet name. Each time she said it, it didn't even appear like she realized it. Did it come automatically for her? He never heard her use it with anyone else, just him. Why me? The possible answer made his heart leap with hope. And courage. A quick surge of hope pushed him to do what he'd been tempted to for the past endless minutes.

"Believe me then," he said then pressed his lips on hers.

Even though it came as a surprise for Seren, she fell so easily. It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it. She was guilty of thinking about it for a while now and tonight she realized that those thoughts paled to what it actually felt like. Dozens of butterflies fluttered in her stomach as Steve slipped his hand around the back of her neck to cradle her head exactly how he needed to. He would never tell her that while her height difference was frankly adorable, it left some maneuvering to do. He didn't mind; it seemed like for the first time he knew exactly what to do. He had Seren Soul, his literal star, in his arms. Nothing could be better than this.

But suddenly, the music stopped and instead the sound of Steve's phone buzzing filled the room.

They broke apart, dazed and confused — and perhaps a bit frightened in the beginning — until they connected the dots. A phone was ringing. As soon as Steve let her go, Seren missed his warmth.

Steve turned to where he'd left his phone and picked it up. "Natasha." He would absolutely get her for this one.

"You should take it," Seren said, awkwardly folding her arms over her chest. She was finally realizing what had just happened. "It could be important."

"You're important," Steve was quick to say and with all the meaning behind it too.

"Work is too." Seren smiled lightly, though somewhat sadly. There was something she wasn't saying and Steve felt like he honestly wasn't going to like it.

He turned his phone off and stuffed it into his back pocket. He was making it clear that whatever Seren wanted to say, she should say it now. He was giving her his undivided attention. "What is it?" he asked her.

Seren was reluctant to speak at first. She had just had possibly the best moment of her life and she was about to ruin it, and much worse she was about to hurt Steve. "You're important. You're so important—to the world and...me." She was promising herself at that moment that whatever she would say wouldn't hide her feelings. At this point, after a kiss like that, there was just no point in denying it anymore. "You're actually a bit intimidating." Her last minute admission prompted a light chuckle from Steve.

"Seriously?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

Seren nodded her head. Her arms dropped to her sides as she went on to explain. "You fought in a world war. You're everywhere in the history books. You fought, along with your friends, so that people like me—everyone—could live the way we do now. You're so important to the world, don't ever think you're not."

"As much as I thank you for those words, I have to confess that none of it really matters as much as it would to know what you think of me." Steve came up to her and stopped her body from turning away. Why couldn't she look at him all of a sudden?

"I already said it," she whispered. "Of course you're important to me. I have no idea when the hell you did this to me."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming along here…" And it terrified him.

Seren finally gathered the courage to raise her head and meet his gaze. "But where we are right now...what we're doing...it's not a good idea."

"What do you mean?" Steve was utterly confused. He could see the pain flashing across Seren's eyes, a tell that she wanted nothing but the opposite of what she had just said. So why was she denying them the opportunity of being together?

Seren sighed heavily and moved around him. As he turned after her, she made it to the table against the wall. She picked up a slip of paper—a plane ticket—and turned back to him. "I'm going to France next week. Rebeca said that they're really interested now in what I'm doing here. Once I'm done here...it's more than likely that I'll be moving to France after. I'll be doing this all over again."

Steve didn't have the words at that moment. He was trying to quickly process everything Seren had just said. Moving? Again? Without knowing it, he was feeling the same ache in his heart as Seren was.

"Work is important," Seren went back to her previous words. She left the ticket back in its place and walked back. "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll be ranking up top at S.H.I.E.L.D. That means more missions, long-term missions, and that'll lead to less opportunities to video call anyone, especially someone around the world." The more she thought about those potential missed calls, the harder it was to control her tears. "I don't want to put myself in a situation where I want you but I can't have you. I'm sure that you wouldn't want that type of relationship either."

No, no he wouldn't. It was painful enough going through that with Peggy and right now he was a lot closer with Seren and yet it didn't seem to be enough. She was right—she was around the world and he was doing his own missions on the other side.

"Steve," Seren reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I do want you. I want to be able to hold your hand like this, I want to talk with you every day, go on dates with you. God, I would really like to go on a date with you." She had to blink rapidly to avoid letting any tears get loose. "I want to do all the stuff I didn't get to do before."

"I want that too." Steve used their interlocked hands to tug her closer to him. He had no idea what to do for a date in the modern world but he had no doubt that whatever he'd come up with, Seren would flash him one of those soft smiles at him and tell him that he did just fine. He kissed her curled hair and rested his cheek over her head for a moment. "I understand what you're saying, Seren. I promise I do. I'd never want to force you into anything."

Seren hugged him tightly and, because he couldn't see her face at that moment, a few tears rolled down her face. "It just wouldn't be fair either of us. I don't want you to wait for me either."

"Seren—"

"No, Steve," she pulled away to meet his face, forgetting the stains of tears on her cheeks. "That's not fair to you." As much as it pained her to imagine him meeting someone else, she had to be fair and reasonable. "You're going home in a few days and you have every right to move forwards. You need to discover this new world, figure out what you want to do and what you will do. I've told you to do this from the day we met. Don't get stuck in the past."

The story of his life.

When would things actually work out for him? Before he said anything, Seren let him go and sat on the couch.

"I don't know how long I'll be away from home," she said. "It can be years. You can't waste your life waiting for someone who might never come home. I heard that can be a bitch."

Steve came over and sat down beside her. "Yeah," he solemnly agreed. It seemed like fate always wanted to hurt him in some kind of way.

Seren let out one long sigh. "The thing about S.H.I.E.L.D. and all this stuff is that...you don't really get to plan that far out. It never really bothered me before but...now I get it. You live in D.C. now. Who's to say that they won't have you relocate for a while? That's how Chloe started, you know. She lived in Arizona for a while and then they moved her to Florida. And then before I knew it, she was going all over the world."

"I wouldn't let that happen," Steve said firmly but Seren knew that if the situation really called for it, he would get up and leave. It was who he was and that's probably one of the reasons why she wanted to be with him. He was as committed to the job as much as she was.

"Yeah, you would," she said quietly, once again reaching for one of his hands between them. "Because you wouldn't be you if you didn't. I like you, I really do, but we can't act on it. At least not right now. You know we can't, right?"

"...yeah," Steve nodded. He squeezed her hand around his. He was unable to bring himself to look at her right now. It was like she said, he wanted her but he couldn't have her and that was the worst pain he ever felt in his life. The punches she gave him when she was brainwashed hurt way less than this.

He was afraid that Time might get in the way again and he might possibly never have her.


A/N:

I...sorry :) ?

I figured in the end it was better to just combine them. Next is the epilogue and then *gasp* the next fic ;)

P.S. As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)